The Initial Idea

For the past three years I've worked at the same architecture firm - before I came to RISD and every summer and wintersession - and I really love the work that they do (www.bkarch.com). It's beautifully detailed high-end residential work, all in the Boston area, mostly in the South End. This is always the type of work that I wanted to do, to make beautiful houses for people that have big enough budgets to really detail it well.

This summer, though, I began to question who these people are. The work is great, don't get me wrong, but why is this type of architecture only accessible to the upper echelon of society. How is this architecture (and most, in general) helping people who already have it all? With this in mind, I'd like to design more for the powerless.

This large-scale theme could be taken in many directions, but the powerless I'd like to focus on are those that are trying to rehabilitate from a physical or mental illness. The architecture of wellness. How can the architecture affect this process of rehabilitation?

Why make architecture for these people,


when these people need it more? And what is it?
This, of course, is still very vague. Next step, physically make this initial idea.